Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Site Tools

  • AAAS
  • Subscribe
  • Feedback

Site Search

Search Advanced

Science 12 October 2001:
Vol. 294. no. 5541, pp. 321 - 326
DOI: 10.1126/science.1060701
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Review

Phenotypic Plasticity in the Interactions and Evolution of Species

Anurag A. Agrawal

When individuals of two species interact, they can adjust their phenotypes in response to their respective partner, be they antagonists or mutualists. The reciprocal phenotypic change between individuals of interacting species can reflect an evolutionary response to spatial and temporal variation in species interactions and ecologically result in the structuring of food chains. The evolution of adaptive phenotypic plasticity has led to the success of organisms in novel habitats, and potentially contributes to genetic differentiation and speciation. Taken together, phenotypic responses in species interactions represent modifications that can lead to reciprocal change in ecological time, altered community patterns, and expanded evolutionary potential of species.

Department of Botany, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3B2, Canada. E-mail: agrawal{at}botany.utoronto.ca

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Over the Falls? Rapid Evolution of Ecotypic Differentiation in Steelhead/Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).
D. E. Pearse, S. A. Hayes, M. H. Bond, C. V. Hanson, E. C. Anderson, R. B. Macfarlane, and J. C. Garza (2009)
J. Hered.
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Does colour polymorphism enhance survival of prey populations?.
L. Wennersten and A. Forsman (2009)
Proc R Soc B 276, 2187-2194
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Inducible defences as key adaptations for the successful invasion of Daphnia lumholtzi in North America?.
K. Engel and R. Tollrian (2009)
Proc R Soc B 276, 1865-1873
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Living with the dead: when the body count rises, prey stick around.
V. Fievet, P. Le Guigo, J. Casquet, D. Poinsot, and Y. Outreman (2009)
Behav. Ecol. 20, 251-257
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Antagonistic selection from predators and pathogens alters food-web structure.
E. Edeline, T. B. Ari, L. A. Vollestad, I. J. Winfield, J. M. Fletcher, J. B. James, and N. C. Stenseth (2008)
PNAS 105, 19792-19796
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Predators avoiding predation.
O. J. Schmitz (2008)
PNAS 105, 14749-14750
   Full Text »    PDF »
Using "Mighty Mouse" to understand masticatory plasticity: myostatin-deficient mice and musculoskeletal function.
M. J. Ravosa, E. K. Lopez, R. A. Menegaz, S. R. Stock, M. S. Stack, and M. W. Hamrick (2008)
Integr. Comp. Biol. 48, 345-359
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Experimental evidence for latent developmental plasticity: intertidal whelks respond to a native but not an introduced predator.
T. C Edgell and C. J Neufeld (2008)
Biol Lett 4, 385-387
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Parent-offspring conflict and co-adaptation: behavioural ecology meets quantitative genetics.
P. T Smiseth, J. Wright, and M. Kolliker (2008)
Proc R Soc B 275, 1823-1830
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Macrophysiology for a changing world.
S. L Chown and K. J Gaston (2008)
Proc R Soc B 275, 1469-1478
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Induced Plant Defenses in the Natural Environment: Nicotiana attenuata WRKY3 and WRKY6 Coordinate Responses to Herbivory.
M. Skibbe, N. Qu, I. Galis, and I. T. Baldwin (2008)
PLANT CELL 20, 1984-2000
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Developmental plasticity of mating calls enables acoustic communication in diverse environments.
O. M Beckers and J. Schul (2008)
Proc R Soc B 275, 1243-1248
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Ocean acidification disrupts induced defences in the intertidal gastropod Littorina littorea.
R. Bibby, P. Cleall-Harding, S. Rundle, S. Widdicombe, and J. Spicer (2007)
Biol Lett 3, 699-701
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Phenotypic plasticity mediates climate change responses among invasive and indigenous arthropods.
S. L Chown, S. Slabber, M. A McGeoch, C. Janion, and H. P. Leinaas (2007)
Proc R Soc B 274, 2531-2537
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Pushing the limit: masticatory stress and adaptive plasticity in mammalian craniomandibular joints.
M. J. Ravosa, R. Kunwar, S. R. Stock, and M. S. Stack (2007)
J. Exp. Biol. 210, 628-641
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Transcription Factor Nerve Growth Factor-Inducible Protein A Mediates Epigenetic Programming: Altering Epigenetic Marks by Immediate-Early Genes.
I. C. G. Weaver, A. C. D'Alessio, S. E. Brown, I. C. Hellstrom, S. Dymov, S. Sharma, M. Szyf, and M. J. Meaney (2007)
J. Neurosci. 27, 1756-1768
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Developmental plasticity mirrors differences among taxa in spadefoot toads linking plasticity and diversity.
I. Gomez-Mestre and D. R. Buchholz (2006)
PNAS 103, 19021-19026
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Covariance of phenotypically plastic traits induces an adaptive shift in host selection behaviour.
L. M Henry, B. D Roitberg, and D. R Gillespie (2006)
Proc R Soc B 273, 2893-2899
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Phenotypic plasticity, sexual selection and the evolution of colour patterns.
T. D. Price (2006)
J. Exp. Biol. 209, 2368-2376
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The evolutionary consequences of ecological interactions mediated through phenotypic plasticity.
J. A. Fordyce (2006)
J. Exp. Biol. 209, 2377-2383
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Maternal care effects on the hippocampal transcriptome and anxiety-mediated behaviors in the offspring that are reversible in adulthood.
I. C. G. Weaver, M. J. Meaney, and M. Szyf (2006)
PNAS 103, 3480-3485
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Reversal of Maternal Programming of Stress Responses in Adult Offspring through Methyl Supplementation: Altering Epigenetic Marking Later in Life.
I. C. G. Weaver, F. A. Champagne, S. E. Brown, S. Dymov, S. Sharma, M. J. Meaney, and M. Szyf (2005)
J. Neurosci. 25, 11045-11054
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The effect of a bacteriophage on diversification of the opportunistic bacterial pathogen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
M. A Brockhurst, A. Buckling, and P. B Rainey (2005)
Proc R Soc B 272, 1385-1391
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Using Artificial Selection to Understand Plastic Plant Phenotypes.
H. S. Callahan (2005)
Integr. Comp. Biol. 45, 475-485
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Differences in Plastic Responses to Defoliation due to Variation in the Timing of Treatments for Two Species of Sesbania (Fabaceae).
D. L. MARSHALL, N. J. ABRAHAMSON, J. J. AVRITT, P. M. HALL, J. S. MEDEIROS, J. REYNOLDS, M. G. M. SHANER, H. L. SIMPSON, A. N. TRAFTON, A. P. TYLER, et al. (2005)
Ann. Bot. 95, 1049-1058
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Phenotypic plasticity to light competition and herbivory in Chenopodium album (Chenopodiaceae).
N. S. Kurashige and A. A. Agrawal (2005)
Am. J. Botany 92, 21-26
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Silencing the Jasmonate Cascade: Induced Plant Defenses and Insect Populations.
A. Kessler, R. Halitschke, and I. T. Baldwin (2004)
Science 305, 665-668
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Evolution of Physiological Tolerance and Performance During Freshwater Invasions.
C. E. Lee, J. L. Remfert, and G. W. Gelembiuk (2003)
Integr. Comp. Biol. 43, 439-449
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Foraging Adaptation and the Relationship Between Food-Web Complexity and Stability.
M. Kondoh (2003)
Science 299, 1388-1391
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Linking individuals with ecosystems: Experimentally identifying the relevant organizational scale for predicting trophic abundances.
O. Ovadia and O. J. Schmitz (2002)
PNAS 99, 12927-12931
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)